Tigers knock off pesky Nute

By Mike Whaley

Thursday

Apr 30, 2009 at 3:15 AM

FARMINGTON — Farmington High School sophomore John Funk tossed five innings of one-hit ball and the Class M Tigers eventually pulled away from Class S neighbor Nute en route to a 7-1 baseball win last Thursday.

Funk whiffed 10, walked five and lost his no-hitter with two outs in the fifth. Farmington is now 3-2, while the Rams (0-4) are still looking for their first win.

It was Funk's first quality outing, according to coach Jim LaClair, who has not used Funk much, particularly since control problems have haunted him when he did pitch.

"We've pitched him a few innings here and there, but the start was good for him, good for his confidence," LaClair said. "And for the most part he got ahead of batters. Hopefully this will do a lot for his confidence. And he actually made it easy for the defense. Some easy pop-ups and ground balls. He kept the batters off balance. ... And the game would have been closer if we didn't have a good pitching performance."

"I felt like I was throwing well, my arm didn't hurt all that much," Funk said. "I was trying to get ahead of batters, and fool around with them once I got ahead. Just focus on getting ahead of them and throwing strikes."

Farmington scored four runs in the first two innings, including three in the first, but then sat on that lead until the sixth. Meanwhile Nute, which had been outscored 45-1 in its first three games, stayed within range thanks to a fine pitching performance on the part of its ace, Stephen Lacasse. Lacasse settled down after a rough first inning and went six innings, allowed seven runs on eight hits and struck out 13. He walked seven.

Nute catcher Jesse Roberge broke up Funk's no-hitter in the fifth with a two-out single to left. Cam Lambert (walk) tried to score from second on the play, but a strong throw from leftfielder Richie Shepardson erased him at the plate. The Rams cut the lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth on a walk and stolen base by Tim Williams, and Zack Roberge's RBI base hit to left off Tiger reliever Ryan Gibbs.

Farmington was able to breath easier in the bottom of the inning when Jarrid Nason roped a three-run double to right field, scoring Codie Healey (2 for 3, 3 runs), Jon Langley (2 for 3, 2 runs, RBI) and Jason Cronier (1 for 3, run).

"It was certainly a lot better than the first three outings," said Nute coach Howie Drolet. "They're a pretty good club, 2-2 in Class M. Up until that bases clearing double, it was a game. The thing I like is that we didn't give them any extra outs. They pretty much earned everything they got. They hit the baseball. Whereas in the first couple outings we're giving teams four, five, six, seven outs an inning, and that's just going to kill you."

Farmington got to Lacasse in the first inning as the big righty had a shaky start. Healey walked, stole second and scored on Langley's base hit. Cronier followed with a base hit, Funk walked to load the bases and Micale Vachon (1 for 1, 2 RBIs, 3 walks) delivered a two-run single to right to spot the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Farmington added a run in the second when Nute botched a pick-off play that eventually allowed Healey to score from third base.

"Their pitcher settled down," LaClair added. "I think early on he was wild and the guys wanted walks. We got into that pattern and it was hard to break once he settled down and threw strikes. And actually he pitched a good game. I thought we should have hit him harder, but you gotta throw strikes and he threw strikes. ... I think we get a little overconfident. Subconsciously the guys thought it was going to be that easy all the way. That's baseball, it changes part way through."

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Farmington beat Epping in five innings last Friday, 12-2. Langley allowed one earned run with eight strikeouts and two walsk. He also went 2 for 4 at the plate with two doubles and two RBIs. Healey went 3 for 3 two doubvles and a triple and four RBIs. Cronier had a triple and drove in two runs, while Ryan Gibbs had two hits with an RBI, and Richie Shepardson had a double and an RBI.

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